quote:Firefly would have been AWESOME if they had actually aired the pilot episode first.

Happened with Star Trek, too. The suits wanted a "bug-eyed monster" (BEM) in the first show to air, so we got "The Man Trap" - a nice little Dr. McCoy story, but "Where No Man Has Gone Before" would have been a much stronger first chapter and gave the new audience a better idea about what Star Trek was all about.

In Firefly's case, the powers that be wanted more action, so "Train Job" was aired first.

In a classic example, Firefly was "too good" to be on television at that time. Ironically, with the much better products coming out of the cable networks now, it might have survived today. (Although for every Breaking Bad, GoT, etc., we get 3 shows like Buckwild, Kardashians or Honey Boo Boo.)

It's a great show. It has a few come on moments and guys that's are suppose to be SRs and the best players end up being Jrs and sophomores and stay for a couple seasons if you get that out if the way then it's really awesome

I like a lot of the suggestions on here, but I'll throw out an underdog: Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. That terrific pilot made the complete piece of crap the show was afterwards really hurt. It was like how could the same people make the pilot and then the rest of the show? But Sorkin has always made great pilots. SportsNight is still my favorite, and that show never dipped in quality.